2015 Top 10 Motorcycle Exhaust

The Motorcycle Exhaust market has been evolving somewhat over the last half dozen years, largely thanks to bike manufacturers squeezing the pips from their brand new machines in an attempt to gain the upper hand over their rivals.

The real benefits of Motorcycle Exhaust are now no longer power-based, but rather weight based – not to mention an improvement on looks. By ditching the original can, and potentially the catalyser too, you can shed kilos off in one go, and whatever you’re sticking on to replace the stock item is going to weigh a fraction of what the accountants insist on at the big firms.

When you start dealing with machines that pump out 200bhp, a trifling few more ponies is hardly going to be felt, welcome though they are. So in looking for a new pipe you need to ask yourself what the power gains are, but also what the weight saving is, whether it’s still going to be road legal, what the new bark is going to be like and will it look pimping enough to justify it to the better half.

Here we round up some of the best options for you to stick on your sparkling new machines – where possible we’ve given the image of the bike with the pipe on, just for a better flavour. Sadly, scratch and sound technology has yet to be invented…

1. Pipewerx Titanium Oval

This British made Pipewerx end can looks just the ticket if you’re after freeing up a few ponies and saving some spondoolies over traditional manufacturers. This particular one is for a new R1, and is street legal, which may please some folk who have bought the bike without wanting to take it on track.

Easy to fit, and coming with all the kit you need in the box (including a free t-shirt), Pipewerx is increasingly becoming the best reasonable option for those of you on a budget (but still able to afford a new R1). We’ve used lots of them and have always been impressed.

Price : £349

2. M4 GP RACE

It’s not just JHS Racing that uses M4 exhausts (especially on its SV650 supertwin bikes), Danny Eslick used one to power his way to Daytona 200 glory earlier in the year. Known to work particularly well on Suzukis, the American firm makes power tubes of glory for all manner of manufacturers.

There are plenty of designs and finishes to choose from, plenty of routing options (high mount, race mount, etc) and cans start from £200. Rejetting isn’t crucial after you’ve fitted one, so get fitting and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

3. Yoshimura R-11 Silencer

How sweet does this look? This classic R-11 can is available for your new GSX-S1000 in four finishes, all with a carbon end cap – polished stainless steel (£623), satin black stainless (£690), titanium (£690) and titanium blue (£746).

The pipe is road legal and comes with a removable baffle and there’s a composite satin black heat shield cover for the original collector box. It increases power by 4bhp and saves 0.4kg versus the standard exhaust. There’s a two year warranty and is available now.

Price : £623

4. Scorpion Serket System

The T304 stainless steel system used in this Scorpion system with its Serket end can saves a whopping 6.5kg in comparison to the standard system on a GSX-R600, or 750 come to that. The full system makes an extra 5bhp through the rev range and offers a smoother power graph than the emissions-restricted standard bike.

Pick from brushed stainless steel (£999), carbon fibre (£1,049) and satin titanium (£1,049) finishes. Made up in Derbyshire for the last 20 years, Rootsy used a Serket can on his ZX-6R last year, and was very impressed with the quality of the goods.

5. Akrapovic Slip-On Line Carbon

All the new Kawasaki H2s come with one of these Akrapovic badboys as standard – you’ll be pleased that it’s included in the £22k price tag – but we just had to put it in… Constructed from lightweight carbon fibre and titanium, it increases the peak power of the machine by 4bhp – like it needs it – but also saves a huge 5.7kg, which is by far the more impressive figure.

It’s a plug and play unit (although quite how you plug it in remains a mystery, still, Akrapovic claims fitting it is a 20 minute job), so it won’t need remapping, it has a two year warranty, is road legal and comes with a removable baffle and carbon fibre heat shield to stop it melting your boot. The jury is out on the looks front with this new range of exhausts, but there’s no denying the quality of the Slovakian silencer.

6. Austin Racing GP1R

The GP1R’s tip has been designed around the brand new Yamaha YZF-R1, but is also available for the Aprilia RSV4-RF, BMW S 1000 RR, KTM Super Duke 1290 R and the old school Suzuki GSX-R1000. Available as a decat or a full system, the GP1R is made from inconel, titanium and stainless steel with a machine bullet aluminium tip (black or silver) coasted in nano and ceramic coating.

It depends on the internal inserts you use for the dB control as to how much weight you save with this one, but in every guise you lop a lot of weight off. The GP2R is available for the above models too…

Price : £849

7. Arrow Race Tech

Simply slip on this all sexy Arrow silencer to the original pipework of your brand new Beemer S 1000 RR, and there you have it – one sweet little modification that ditches the funny twin-exit exhaust that BMW thought looked good. There’s a large range of Arrow pipes on the B&C website to suit everyone’s pocket – no matter how deep or shallow…

This natty little number is fully homologated and comes with a certificate to prove it. You won’t need to purchase any extra items as everything you need is in the box. A refined choice…

Price : £500

8. Akrapovic Slip-On Line Titanium

What a work of art – a full titanium slip on silencer for the new R1 with a MotoGP style outlet cap inspired by the 2015 M1 Yamaha race bike – kind of… It’s road legal and comes complete with a carbon fibre heat shield. But the peak power increase is barely 1bhp and the can’s weight saving is 0.5kg, aptly demonstrating what a top job Yamaha did in the first place.

It has a two year warranty and no refuelling or remapping is required with this beauty… If you’ve got the baby brother – the Yamaha YZF R3 – then you’re not left out. For £228, you can have MotoGP style too. Power increase is a whopping 0.5bhp, but it saves 1.9kg versus standard – and do we really need to point out just how cool it looks ?

9. Zard Penta

Italian firm Zard loves looking after its own, and in its options for the Panigale the firm has ripped up the rulebook to produce a thing of wonder – at least we think that’s what it is. Zard claims that this full system (for that’s what it is) gives up to a 20bhp boost to an 1199 Panigale. That’s some claim, and refers to the midrange boost, but when you wander into the field of four figure pricing that’s the sort of upgrade you’re after. Weight savings are to be had, although Ducati has done a fine job with the original system here.

Zard itself has only been around for a dozen years, and is headed by a former Termignoni man, but the brand is well represented in the WSB and Moto2 paddock. Zard also supplies a carbon fibre seat unit for that super snug fit (but for a pretty packet more).

10. Remus Hypercone

Here’s one for the chin strokering Ducati Scrambler owners. Available in three finish options (all road legal with removable baffle and carbon fibre end cap); polished stainless, stain black and titanium. There are two options of connector tube – a ‘race tube’ which removes the catalytic converter and is lighter than the original collected box and cat.

This increases power by 2.5bhp and saves 3.96kg versus standard. Or, there’s a replacement collector box that removes the cat but acts as a pre-silencer to keep the bike quiet – helpful for your MOT and ‘quiet’ trackdays on your kick-ass Scrambler – this increases power by 1.5bhp and saves 2.96kg. Both options come with a two year warranty and are available at the beginning of May.

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